No, it wasn’t Super Mario 64
[Update:And I’ve just been informed that Mario was voiced inMario Teaches Typing, which predates evenHotel Mario. The original 1991 DOS version used a different actor, but a 1995 CD-ROM re-release replaced him with Martinet. However, I’m not sure whether that orGame Gallerycame out first.]
Super Mario 64introduced the world to Charles Martinet, voice actor extraordinaire who continues to lend his vocal talents to Mario and many otherMariouniverse characters to this day. Little do most people know thatMario 64wasn’t the first game to star Martinet as Nintendo’s mustachioed mascot, thus Shane Luis of Retroware TV decided to discuss this rather obscure bit of Mario’s legacy on his web series,Rerez.
In 1995,Falloutdeveloper Interplay publishedMario’s Game Gallery, a collection of five traditional board and card games for the PC. A rather forgettable title, its only claim to fame was in giving Martinet a chance to shape Mario’s identity. It was later rebranded asMario’s FUNdamentals, probably to position itself as an educational game and rope in unsuspecting parents.
Of course, we all know the first game to give Mario any voice at all wasHotel Mario. Imagine ifthatactor had become the official voice! Tears of blood would have been shed!
